Though they may not have been great innovators lately, I love how they still seem to want to put their customers first. They build rugged, enthusiast level cameras at entry level prices, you can't ask for better value for money. I remember using my friend's Canon Rebel T5i for the first time and it felt like using a toy compared to my similarly priced Pentax. The viewfinder was like looking down a tunnel at an oncoming train and just felt like it was made on a serious budget without a full control layout. It was then I realised how lucky we Pentaxians really were.
The best thing about shooting short films and music videos with those Canon's,... is putting film-era Pentax Lenses in front of them! :) The Rebels are a good "My First DSLR",.. but if you want them to work best, you have to load up Magic Lantern, you're totally correct on the handling and feel, the Rebels feel like toys in the hand, even my K-01's feel better. Now, if only there was a Magic Lantern for Pentax - the colours are already so much better on every Pentax body, then any Canon body, they just get the life compressed out of them.
I got my wife a Pentax K10D for Christmas in 2007. She still uses it. She thinks the 100mm f/2.8 Macro is amazing. I choose the K10D because of DPReview.
I loved mine that I got in 2006. It sadly was lost, but promptly replaced by A K20D, which I also loved. Cant remember what happened to that one, but I never quite warmed up to the K-5 II I replaced it with. Smaller and lighter, but the grip just didn’t feel as good in my hand. Somewher in there I also got a K-01 on sale. It had great image quality, but so ugly, weird, and awkward.
My first ever camera was a Pentax MESuper back in 1980. I LOVED that camera. It went EVERYWHERE with me, with only a 50mm lens. I learned to move instead of zoom. If the shutter hadn’t seized up after 20 years I think I’d still be using it today.
I also love this camera but the one that I had when I was a kid developed a sticky shutter where it would fire super slow for the first few shots. I picked up two others over the years and both of those also developed the same shutter issue so that was clearly a design flaw. That camera just felt good in the hand though!
The Asahi Pentax Spotmatic II is THE camera that started the SLR revolution, not the K1000, which is largely an updated model of the Spotmatic. I still love my Spotmatic, bought in 1969!
Thanks for showing some love to the Pentax LX, my personal fave. The metering is flawless on that camera, and manual focus is a joy with the huge diopter-equipped viewfinder. Last summer we went to Calgary & the mountains. The Fuji’s stayed at home & I packed the LX and 28, 50, & 135 primes. No regrets, great trip, great images.
I love the 67 - only problem I had was that all my clients prefer digital so I wasn't able to use it for work. So it just gathered dust and I finally had to sell it. I still miss it, the 105mm was lovely. And the shutter was not at all that bad.
I still shoot a K10D and K1000 😂 I do appreciate that you all have always kept reviewing Pentax, even their mid-range stuff when it's not super exciting necessarily. But good for newcomers to know, since the price-per-feature of some of those entry models is amazing!
I love how, while other photographers say “I’m a Nikon shooter” or “I use Fuji cameras” or that sort of thing, Pentax people are called Pentaxians. It’s like something out of Star Trek: “I am a Pentaxian, our proud warrior race has traveled these stars for eons before your foolish species entered this galaxy” “In the language of my peoples, we say ‘Takumar sharp,’ not ‘tack sharp’ as you humans do” “Admiral, we have received reports that the Pentaxians have sent their flagship to the Cardassians as tribute. Let us only hope the Contaxians haven’t got there first.”
I have used pentax for about 12 years.. Great cameras really love my k3 its like an extension of myself i am so used to it now.. However, i am not a bloody Pentaxian, that is just totally pretentious and embarrassing
I've become more and more brand agnostic over the years having gravitated towards Nikon, Olympus and Panasonic. I just call myself a photographer these days. 🤷🏼♂️
Really the other way round, K1000 is a Spotmatic with a K mount. More accurately the K1000 is a KM without the self-timer and depth of field preview, and the KM is a Spotmatic with a K mount.
The K1000 was one of the first cameras I learned photography on at school. Then the school bought a Pentax ME Super, one of the first "advanced" cameras. That was a real treat to use!
So my Pentax pre-dated the ones you mentioned. On my 12th birthday my parents gave me a "Honeywell" Pentax H1a and it truly changed my life. It started a hobby (and some commercial work) that has lasted 55 more years and is still going strong. I loved that camera. I've owned other Pentax cameras since then but that H1a was a wonderful and miraculous marvel (in my mind).
I don't know, the joy of the MX was that it did not require batteries. A great camera for camping trips - a digital form would need a solar panel recharger accessory. The layout and features of the MX were great though. :)
I miss my spotmatic! Should have kept the 50mm f1.4 I had with it.... have four Pentax bodies to make up for that, evenly split between film and digital :)
I still own a Pentax MX. It still works (amazingly!) and has only had about 3sets of batteries and one service! It taught me photography and I had it with me everywhere. It’s an early version ca 1977 so amazing!
Nikon shooter, but got started with Pentax and Minolta. Pentax cameras were always accessable, and they always looked after their customers. I was sad when Pentax sold their camera business to Ricoh after their parent merged with Hoya. The photography industry is in such turmoil, but i'm hoping it levels out at some point, and looking forward to reviews of a new Pentax.
I was shooting Pentax from 1994 till 2005, a MX and a LX, loved them and have great memories of them, like shootings at minus 17 Celsius on a Kodachrome 25 or 64, can’t remember it was January 2003, sunrise in Stonehenge, my breath wasn’t freezing on the back of the camera, but the faithful MX was perfectly comfortable, completely mechanical and coupled with a 1960’s light meter I didn’t even need to use a battery for its in camera metering, incident metering + 2-3 stops overexposed to compensate for the freezing conditions....
My first DSLR was a *ist DS and went with that camera mostly thanks to the DPReview article about it. The K-7 is tied for the favorite DSLR camera I've owned. The other being the Nikon D750. I mean, the dials on the K-7 started acting up because I used it a lot, but overall it was the camera I really expanded my photography with. With the switch to Hoya and now Ricoh, I don't know how much Pentax is still Pentax, but I do have that fondness for their gear.
I got a ME shortly after it came out and when the ME Super came I bought it too - kept both of them until I went digital in 2011... so they where by far the longest lasting cameras I ever used!
Hi. Always been a Pentax fan and still have my K1000 I started with 30 years ago (still looks almost new). Wonderful camera that got me a small town photo contest win, a couple of modest sales and many awesome photos. I got to know that camera so well that even night shots with long exposures came out exactly as I imagined so I rarely even bracketed my exposures. Thanks for the video, cheers.
Pentax 6x7 all the way! one of the greatest cameras! I still use mine (I bought it in 1976, and has never stopped to amaze me... never an issue) today in the studio and for landscape.. it is bulky, yet very "reassuring", if you catch my drift!
I love Pentax!! The KS2 was my first dslr, and started my love for photography. Even though I'm a Fuji shooter now, I'm always looking for new Pentax cameras to pick up and shoot.
I started with the Pentax ME in 1979 and then graduated to the MX and LX. Since then, I didn't find any Pentax camera compelling enough to purchase, until the Pentax K-1. The K-1 had the resolution to exceed fine grain film in full frame and use my collection of Pentax-M lenses. What a blast like having the film days back without the hassle and wait of getting film processed, especially Kodachrome which to a week! I got the 28-105 kit lens and the 15-30 ultrawide zooms with it. BTW, the LX was the first professional "system camera" with finders, backs, motor drives, etc. I meantime switched to Canon in 1987 when the EOS system came out. Canon for action and portraits, Pentax for Landscapes, what a perfect world!! Thank you so much for this Pentax video, I'll finally subscribe to DPreview (again).
FINALLY an ode to the Pentax. my first cam was a Spotmatic slr in 1972,,,AND i shot for Associated Press with it. front page pic newspaper too. great camera, great company.
This is an important video for new shooters to watch. Counter to Sony Northrup and Jared Sonylin, people were able to take pictures without EYE AF, realtime tracking, etc. So many of these large RU-vid channels see a new feature and suddenly you can't take pictures without it. Also everyone complaining about the size of mirrorless cameras, again look at the film bodies, they were small and compact.
I was a Pentax user during the film DSLR days. My 90s Pentax lenses can still hold their own today (I tried them with mirrorless adapters), and that amazes me. The 67II and the 645Z are amazing products, and they still fetch a good amount in the used market. I hope Pentax makes a successor to these medium format marvels.
Three of the essential Pentax cameras that should have had a mention at least: Pentax ME Super ... the first camera with push-buttons instead of a shutter speed dial. Pentax Super-A ... this petite beast of a camera won European Camera Of The Year award in 1984 Pentax Z1 / Z1p ... hugely innovative with how they implemented Hyper-Manual and Hyper-Program exposure modes.
Thank you - nice to remember the old days Beside 645z and LX I used all mentiond cameras since 1974 (taking the K1000 as identical to the Spotmatic F beside the K Mount) Still love to shoot the 6x7 and K1, K3, K01 (!) and Q10 are in use regularly.
My first Pentax was a 67, then a K1000 for a more portable camera, then a few digital bodies, and now a K1ii. They are all so enjoyable to use, i love my pentaxes! I hope they can keep making them for many years to come!
I worked in camera stores for over 25 years and started taking photos when I was 11 in '63 so I go back a bit further than you guys at DPR. I think you dropped the ball not starting out with the 60's Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic. It was a hugely popular camera for newspapers and magazine photographers as well for the general population because of it's small size in comparison to the other Japanese camera makers. Part of it's popularity with the press was because of the Honeywell Strobonar potato masher flashes like the 600 series. You can barely find an image of the press from back then that didn't feature many of the photographers using the pair. You can see it used in the iconic 1966 movie, Blow Up. BTW, the K1000 was not the workhorse you mentioned, at least not in it's later production years. The LX was one of the finest cameras I ever shot with, producing amazingly sharp and contrasty images that beat my Nikon and Canon cameras/lenses. It was on loan to me from Pentax along with the Pentax 80-200, 40-80, and 24-50, all super sharp. I almost sold all my Canon and Nikon gear because of how good that camera was as well as those lenses. If you do a similar video on the history of Canon I hope you point out just how revolutionary the FL lens mount was, and still is. Its cam action meant that even after years of use it would fit as snug on the camera as it did day one. Lenses before and since can't say the same. My first camera was the FT-QL with it's one of a kind auto film loading and semi-spot meter. If I were writing the script for that video I'd spend a few minutes raking the AE series cameras over the coals. They are the reason I sold all my Canon gear and switched to Nikon. The design, with its poorly placed controls that were prone to moving themselves while walking around with the camera, the flimsy cover over the pentaprism, cranky shutter and film advance knob. It took until Canon came out with the T90 for me to recommend Canon to any of my customers again. At first I had my doubts about a plastic body camera but after a year of seeing pros using and abusing them and their holding up, I changed my mind.
Dad got me hooked on Pentax in the early 1980s. When he wanted a change from his ME Super, he offered it to me. It was a great upgrade from a Yashica Lynx 5000 range finder I was using. Though I wandered away from photography for many years, and went Nikon for my first two DSLRs (Pentax/Ricoh really SUCK at marketing!!!!), I'm now using a K-1 MkI. _I_LOVE_THIS_CAMERA!!!_ Like every European car I've ever owned, it has quirks. The nice people on Pentax Forum have scolded me for not sending it back while it was under warranty but I see it as part of the quirkiness of using a Pentax. (BTW, after the ME Super, Dad had a "fling" with a pricey Mamiya. When he was busted by Mom, he picked up a PZ20.) VERY happy to see a glowing, happy review of Pentax! For a long time, I've been following the young guy with the big frizzy hair, who seldom hesitates to take Pentax down a peg. Looking forward to the new crop body from Pentax this year!
2 years since I posted and I still LOVE my K-1. Let’s show a little more love for Pentax. Bodies like the K-1 have IBIS. So, all of those great, old, now inexpensive SLR era lenses are effectively “stabilized”.
Having shot numerous Pentax dSLRs starting with the k100d the K-1 is an awesome piece of kit for a Pentaxian. As many reviewers have stated it’s a perfect landscape camera which is one of the primary markets for the company. The combination of the screen, built on AstroTracer/GPS, and full frame resolution has been fantastic and of course the damn things are practically bulletproof in weather. Here’s to hoping it’s not their swan song. Thanks for a fun Pentax week!
Thank you so much for caring about Pentax. I once bashed the drawbacks of the Brand very much, since I also own a K750 and XT20 I made my peace since I know their weaknesses. I started on a Nikon D80. Then went to K200d to K10d to K5, K5IIs, K1. NO other brand gives that feeling as close to shooting in the older film days (which I have as well, Spotmatic, Spotmatic F, KX etc.) maybe Leica is something concerning how it feels but they cost so much more. So Pentax really offers soemnthing to love. I wanted a Nikon for the Colour Metrics when using flash lights and the AF Speed, I hoped to love the XT20 like my Pentax but I really do not. I have it will use it occasionally but when I travel I take my K1, My 3 Limiteds and I am happy. I hate their AFC but I learned how good the Low Light Accuracy is against the D750 which is not as good! (but quicker in good lighting). I learned to live with the shortcomings of a Pentax but as well I adore their strengths. I tried to switch 3 times but I am still happy I did not. I really hope they get more funding. They have no commercial budget and very limited ressources sadly.
In 2023 it looks like the best used option for me coming from a KR will have to be a K5ii,the only downside is 16mpixls where others may have 24, but when you add up everything else about the Pentax it just seems like so much more camera for the money.
I got my start on a K1000. My Dad let me borrow his to shoot a few rolls of film with it and see if I enjoyed the process. I was hooked as soon as he showed me how to use it (especially that pin light meter, genius design and ridiculously easy to read without moving your eye away from the subject). I can say without a shadow of a doubt, the K1000 made a photographer out of me. I think back to all the time spent shooting with that thing and I smile. What a lovely bit of kit. I still use the lenses but now they're in mount converters and go on my Fuji X-T10 instead. I still love that 50mm f2 kit lens. My photos are still crap in any technical sense but I'm grinning while I learn and laughing at my mistakes just like I was back then.
I love my K1000 and have always considered Pentax digitals when I've been in the market for one, but I'm always terrified that they'll go belly up and I'll be left on my own. No customer service and no new lenses. But dang, when I watch these types of videos or Mattias Burling's on the K1 and the Q or even the reaaaaaally old digidirect ones, I want to throw money at Pentax. Loving this Pentax week and hopefully it helps some people see the light with Pentax.
I love my 67ii. Also just picked up a brand new K50 with an 18-55 WR lens for $180. I think it will be a great rainy Vancouver day walking around camera.
I've had my Pentax MX from my dad since 1993 and I still use it regularly. It has the biggest viewfinder of any SLR while simultaneously being one of the smallest, carry anywhere SLRs. My 6x7 mirror lock-up is another huge favourite and I'm about to put it to work for portraits of my friends for making some huge photographic prints. The 67 is still incredibly popular and people are doing stunning work with every day - which you can see on instagram. These all-mechanical cameras should be repairable for many decades to come. I'm a Fuji guy for digital, but I'll be buying the K1 when it's sufficiently below the $1,000 mark. That's a pretty future-proof DSLR. Apart from being able to shoot my Pentax lenses at their native perspective, the high resolution sensor and the pixel-shift will make it perfect for digitising negatives and slides with my old 50mm f2.8 macro lens and an extension tube.
@@PiDsPagePrototypes Yeah. The MX isn't the smallest but it's among the smallest. Along with the Olympus OMs, the other Pentax M cameras, the P30 and a few others. But yeah. Enormous viewfinder. And I'm lucky to have the simple circle focusing screen rather than the split image.
One of mine is dead and the light meter isn't working on my no.1. I'm hoping to get the meter fixed and then I want to buy another that's as close to mint as possible while they're still available for if my no.1 becomes irreparable.
My first SLR was a K1000 in 1979. Then I traded up to the MX (I still have one- I bought it to keep on a shelf but I occasionally put a roll of film into it, I love the feeling of precision engineering inside when the shutter is fired), then the P30 and SFX. I then defected to the first Canon Ixus so I could carry a camera everywhere, but then switched to a DSLR- the *ist DL4. As my initials are IST, this literally had my name on it! Next came the K5, a truly excellent camera. I was at an airshow, next to a couple of guys with Canikon full-frame cameras & huge lenses and when it started to rain, the big gear was hurriedly put into its cases, whereas my K5 was weatherproof so I could carry on shooting. I now have a K1- built like a tank, all the features I need and a few more I want to grow into. I've come to love Pentax cameras for the innovation, quality, value for money & sheer usability, and I'll probably not want to change cameras again unless the K1 gets a replacement, though I can't imagine how it can be improved upon. I'm a proud lifelong (almost) Pentaxian!
I had a ME Super and a 6X7II loved them both! After the 6X7II, I sold both in 2004. I got a dsc-v3 Sony & a coolpix 8400 8mp, I got those in 2004, I used those untill 2018, I just got a d5600 4 months ago.... Now I hope Pentax/Ricoh comes out with something new in the future!
The K1000 was my first workable SLR. I still look back with great affection at my experience with it, though since then I haven't owned Pentax cameras.
The 67 is my favourite camera. I've shot slow shutters hand held without issue, well aside from the shotgun blast soundscape! I once used it under a bridge and it definitely made some heads turn! K1 is an amazing bit of kit, it fits right along side its older sibling. So much can be said about why we love Pentax and how we see people that don't get it, but it always falls on deaf ears. Doesn't stop many from trying, though!
Bought my LX after speaking to some war correspondents. Their experience was that it was more durable under extreme conditions than the rival brands. It had a rough life thereafter and still works.
My first Pentax camera was Pentax K-x. At that time, I switched from a Canon 1000D. I have been a Pentax fan since then... moving on to K-01 (lovely camera that got so much hate), Q and Q10 (absolutely fun camera). I am waiting for a new APSC bodies from Pentax. Now I am using GR-3 most of the time! :)
I loved my Pentax LX... with 85-1.4 A* lens. Broke my heart when some cad stole it right out of my house! Still miss having it... even though I probably wouldn’t be shooting with it. It was a very solid beast!
I started out with an ME Super in 1980, then MX, ME, then Nikon FE, F3, F, Olympus OM1n, OM2n. I still have all of these in full working condition except the Super which only lasted about 10 years. Recently I have discovered the early pre-Spotmatic SLR's with an S3 and SV. These are the best of the whole bunch! The build quality reminds me of my M3 and 111g, maybe not quite so high but not far off.
No mention of the Pentax Z-1p, a truly amazing film camera. I started with the K10D in 2007, and I still regret having to sell it to upgrade to the K-x, which also was great.
Yes! (I have a PZ-1, not the “p”.) This film camera of the 1990s had the very same two-dial control interface with Hyper Program and Hyper Manual modes that the Pentax DSLRs used when they - eventually - arrived.
I remember my trip to Europe in 1975 and I had a little Kodak Box Brownie. On a camping tour around Europe many people had an Asahi Pentax, I thought it was the K1000. I was very jealous. Anyway, on my return to Australia my parents bought me a Canon TX which I used for years. I was robbed in 1988 with my camera stolen. I bought a Pentax SFX also known as SF1 in USA as the replacement over the new EOS. It had autofocus, amazing. I loved that camera. When digital came along because I had Pentax lenses I bought the 6mp *ist D rather than the Nikon D70. After a trip to the Arctic where most were using the Canon 20D and my camera was slow to focus I decided for a change. I eventually bought a Canon 30D. My wife got into photography so we decided to get a DSLR for her and again because of lenses that we had we bought her the Pentax K10D. Fantastic camera and the 16=50 that she used was amazing. Her images of a trip to New Zealand were so superior to my Canon. Maybe something to do with the photographer :( As our interests shifted to more wildlife photography and after children leaving home freed up some cash I bought into Nikon and my wife Canon. I still have the *ist D and SFX and a couple of lenses. We sold the K10D and best lenses. Pentax will always have a special place in my heart.
A really nice selection. When I bought my first SLR back in 1980, I had planned to buy the ME super; a friend of mine already owned a K1000. Later, I also was amazed by the LX and at Photokina in 2014(?), I enjoyed trying the 645Z. However, it was only last year that I finally bought a Pentax camera - it is the ME super that I had intended to buy almost 40 years ago. I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, but the day will come... Just one minor clarifying note on the pentaprism: Pentax was the first Japanese company to use a pentaprism in an SLR, but not really the first - that was probably the Zeiss Icon with its Contax S a couple of years earlier (there is also the Italian Rectaflex which might have been even a little earlier). "Pentax" in fact was originally a trademark of Zeiss Icon's (short for "Pentaprism Contax") before they sold it to Asahi in the late 1950s (the Wikipedia article in the english version is not accurate in several respects; just in case you wonder...).
My favourite Pentax was the 645N Mk ii. It was an amazing camera, reliable, a pleasure to shoot with and the lenses were excellent. Unfortunately Pentax took so long to introduce the digital version that I sold it on and invested the money in another system. I still look at EBay with the intention of getting another.
My first pro kit was based around a couple of MX anda few lovely M lenses...still got 'em! Such a shame that Pentax so lost it's way a good few years ago, after being such an iconic and popular brand. I'd be very happy to see a renaissance, and maybe a super new digital MX camera to bring me back to Pentax.
I love Pentax because their cameras are made by photographers, for photographers. Their interfaces, ergonomics, and UX are second to none! Plus, they just look good.
I started with a Pentax ME Super in the late 1970's. Then kids came along and I was lucky if I grabbed a 110 Instamatic for a number of years. When I got "the itch" again, I went looking for what I was comfortable with. I found a K-S1 at Costco and went with that because I would still be able to use my old lenses. Then I experienced the infamous aperture block and I bought a used K-5 as backup while it was fixed. Ended up with a K-1ii, kept the K-5 and sold the K-S1. Because of the durability and WR, I can't imagine making a brand change! Love both of my Pentax cameras and all of the "candy" (lenses) I have accumulated from eBay!
I have it and I still love it - and use them some times nowadays: ME, MEsuper, SuperA & LX (beneeth the Minolta XD7 the most beautiful body ever built), all with drive and some nice Glasses. The lenses are amazing
The Super A/Super Program was truly an INCREDIBLE camera. It never seem to make anyone's list, but back in the day I had three of them. Wonderful camera. TTL falsh, electronic or manual shutter, DOV preview, motor drive option. I still have a long cord for the battery that I could place the battery in my pocket on really cold days and keep the camera working. Very innovative.
Was a outdoor wedding photographer during the film days and the 645n and 645nII was the weapon of choice for me! Autofocus, balance of the camera are almost unrivaled. Both Mamiya 645AFD(balance is horrible which I normally handheld like 60% to 70% of the time) and Hasseblad V(manual focusing isn't the easiest at location shoots) are really not the best option for what I shoot!
First Pentax was the ME, which was my mom's. Moved up through the years from PZ-1P, 645 (loved this one), ist D to the K20D, and I still have the 110 with 3 of the lenses...a cute little kit. Now, my big choice is which one I should upgrade to from the K20: Do, I go to one of the K 3's, or one of the K1's...?
The Pentax K1000 was used by colleges nationally around Australia as a student camera right up to its end of production it was was one the first SLR cameras I used. The other two were the MX and the Praktika TL 1000 which was basically a clone of the K1000. The Me Super and Se super was another great camera. Others the LX, Super A, 645, 645z, 6X7. Pentax also pioneered the Bayonet mount system which revolutionized all lens mounted camera systems.
I started out with the Pentax K-x, soon to be replaced by the K-5 which I enjoyed very much and that got me really going. Today I use the K-3 II, but also Fujifilm X-T2. With Pentax bodies I love the rugged, no-nonsense approach. I don't really miss anything on the K-3 II, and OVF (vs EVF) has both pros and cons. The lenses I enjoy even more, especially the Limited primes of both the DA and FA series. FA77 Ltd is my most used lens of all time!
Very pleasing video guys much appreciated. Personally I feel that the K5IIs has to be mentioned alongside the K10d it is my favorite. Also the K01 has been maligned wrongly - I think I am right in saying it was the first MILC made? It took wonder pictures with that great sony 16m sensor.
I still have a Pentax 67 with three lenses. The damn thing is heavy as hell. I'm 65 so I don't take it out as often as I used to because of the weight. BTW my first 35mm camera was the Mamiya/Sekor auto XTL with a f1.4 prime lens. Loved that camera...ran it into the ground with so much use.
My favorite (and only remaining) Pentax is the Program Plus but, intrigued by your passing refence to the Q10, I just bought one after checking out some reviews.
Nearly 45 years ago, whilst I was in College, a classmate took an impromptu "Portrait" of me with a then, current production Pentax. Maybe a K1000 ? She developed and printed a beautiful 8x10 b/w enlargement for me. I STILL HAVE IT ! Unlike so many "digital" prints I've seen, after all this time that photo still looks brand new.
I still shoot a Pentax ME and K-M (black and white analog photography) with a lot of lenses adapted to Fujifilm. My favourite is the 50mm 1.2 + Speedbooster for the ultimate f0.85 light gathering.
I'm just glad that getting good pictures now can be easily done without fiddling with all that heavy and clunky mechanical junk. Nice video to appreciate tech advancement!
LIKE and thanks a lot for this video! Pentax remains my greatest love in my photographic life (lasting 45 years)... I have used more than 30 different cameras, but real shooting I have begun with K-1000 and entered digital photography with K10D. I still use K-5 and K-3 with 16 Pentax lenses (despite as old man now I prefer micro 4/3 equipment)
I recently bought a K100D Super from a fleamarket seller, for 25 euros. It works and takes really quite nice photos, focusing is a bit slow by modern standards but the colors look superb. And it uses AA batteries. Money well spent I think.
Not mentioned is the Pentax Spotmatic 35mm SLR. One of the best selling 35mm SLR's back in the 1960's, The Pentax MX was under consideration when I was shopping for my first 35mm SLR back in late 1970's but I went with a Nikon FM instead for the primary reason my brother in law had lenses I could use on it. I always thought the Pentax MX was an advanced all-manual camera for it's time. I now have a Honeywell Pentax 35mm SLR with a Pentax Super Takumar 55mm f/1.8 lens both about 1970 vintage. Great camera to use and the lens is super sharp with excellent color rendition. Always been a Pentax fan.
Used to have a Spotmatic with 50mm f1.4... then got into the Olympus OM-2 for a while, mid 1990s. Fast forward to 2005... was gifted a K1000. 2010, first DSLR was a K-x. 14 years later, after issues with K-x functionality (later fixed), bought a K-70 kit with the 18-135 WR zoom. (Also bought and built a MILC rig around a Sony a6300, ha!) Same year... scored a *ist 35mm film camera on eBay from Japan that summer. Used my APS-C 35mm 2.4 and 50mm f1.8 lenses on that, awesome (if you can live with the noise and build quality, but very capable for a tiny feature loaded, auto winding film SLR)! All I'd need now is a K-1 II, and some MF model (digital, but film would be great too) to 'complete' my Pentax lineup. :)
I was raised by a Pentaxian and as a student of photography lived for a short time in the tropics of Canada, Thunder bay so I would love that K1 if your done with it. As for the best Pentax top 3 would have to be a 645N, next was the Pz-1p (Z1-p but the grip sucked), in America the mz-3n. The out layer would have to be the mz. As reviewers I give you guys the most respect for at least giving Pentax a fair shake so hats off. For the record I would love a Pentax shirt!
